Joe Biden Falls Victim to the Maelstrom of the Left

On Thursday, former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden succumbed to the rancorous and begrudging wing of his own political party by repudiating a belief he has held for decades. The unprecedented and heretic view he held? The notion that taxpayers’ money should not be spent on abortions.

In an age when laws are passed in certain states that enable women to receive abortions up until birth, Biden’s initial support of the Hyde Amendment — a provision that prohibits federal funds from subsidizing abortions with the exception of cases involving rape, incest, or when a mother’s life is in peril — was a clear deviation from the conformable thoughts of the Left.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who is the epitomical embodiment of the Sanders- and Warren-wing of the Democratic Party — lambasted Biden for his incredibly distasteful view, stating in an interview:

“If your pride is being a moderate centrist candidate, say that. Say, ‘I’m proud to be a centrist, I’m proud to be funded by Wall Street. I’m proud to not push as hard as I can on women’s rights.’ Say it, own it, be it, but don’t come out here and say you’re a progressive candidate, but at the same time not support repealing something as basic as the Hyde Amendment.”

Alarmed by the implications of this unorthodox view, Biden reversed course on Thursday, just one day after his initial view of the Hyde Amendment became mainstream media fodder. During an event in Atlanta, Biden asserted that he “can’t justify leaving millions of women without access to the care they need and the ability to exercise their constitutionally protected right.” And on Twitter, the former vice president stated the following:

Women’s rights and health care are under assault in a way that seeks to roll back every step of progress we’ve made over the last 50 years. If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s zip code.

In the span of just one day, Biden’s lack of authenticity was embarrassingly revealed for all to see. His long-standing support of the Hyde Amendment, from his tenure in the Senate up until Wednesday, was abandoned in just 24 hours.

Biden has two problems as a candidate: first, his platform, a so-called “centrist” one, is predicated on left-wing centrism, an incredibly faltering ideology; second, the primary notion he is running on — that he will restore order and stability and “decency” to the White House — is dramatically weakened and demonstrated to be fraudulent when he openly reveals himself to be an inauthentic, vote-hungry candidate that swiftly changes his views whenever it suits his best interests.

Biden’s first issue regards the “centrist” platform he is running on. Left-wing centrism is a dying ideology. This was exemplified both literally and metaphorically in Cortez’s defeat of former Democratic Representative Joe Crowley — a centrist akin to Biden who was the fourth-ranking House Democrat — during the 2018 midterm elections. It was a shocker, one that indicated the growing dissatisfaction left-leaning voters have towards centrist ideas.

Just last weekend this rejection was shown again, this time vociferously. During a speech at California’s Democratic Convention, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper — who, mind you, is a Democrat running for president — bravely stated the unthinkable:

“If we want to beat Donald Trump and achieve big progressive goals, socialism is not the answer.”

Instantly upon hearing such a blasphemous statement, the crowd booed in unison for more than half a minute.

This isn’t surprising though. Even nine years ago, 53% of Democratic voters held a positive view of socialism. In 2018, the total rose to 57%. It’s a staggering number, one that serves as a demonstration of where the Democratic Party has evolved to since the time of John F. Kennedy.

The crowd at Saturday’s Democratic event reacted similarly when former Maryland congressman John Delaney — who is another Democrat miraculously running for president — took the stage and criticized “Medicare for All,” the universal single-payer healthcare proposal that would increase the government’s healthcare expenditures by $32.6 trillion over a ten-year span. Boos persisted during Delaney’s speech, despite his attempts to quell them.

Biden is hoping to capture the support of a voter that is disturbed by both the Left’s proclivity towards socialism and utter insanity and the Right’s transmogrification into the wing of Trump. To gain this constituency, he’s relying on utilizing the appeal of him as the restorer of order and stability to the White House. In other words, the standard yet fair politician.

Biden cannot purport to be able to bring stability to the White House when he is neither stable nor honest, though. If he can swiftly change a view he has held for literal decades in a span of a day, he is not authentic. He is rather a victim of the Left’s maelstrom — a cesspool comprised of victimization, immorality, and a Hobbesian view of the government. If you don’t quickly adapt and keep up with their standards, your candidacy is doomed.

Compare this to then-candidate Trump. No matter how much you dislike him personally or his presidency, Trump was an unfathomably authentic candidate. In his campaign announcement speech at Trump Tower, Trump immediately formed a rift between him and the GOP, enthusiastically stating insubordinateviews on illegal immigration, the economy, and his then-rivals.

Even if you disliked effectively everything he said, you could tell he was authentic. And that was Trump’s main appeal — a juxtaposition of the normative, inauthentic politician. Trump actually said what he truly believed, knowing that it would cost him never-ending negative press.

Biden, on the other hand, will presumably support whatever the Left’s maelstrom demands from him and whatever his campaign believes will lend him the most votes. He probably has Stanford graduates working for him around-the-clock on an advanced algorithm that can predict what positions will give him the most support. Trump didn’t have that.

People can sense when inauthenticity is present. It’s a skill innate to us — it’s why we can sometimes discern whether someone is lying by picking up on the slightest cues. Instead of perpetually criticizing Trump for being “unpresidential,” the standard-bearer politicians should learn a thing or two from him and his candidacy. Authenticity is in woefully short supply in politics, and Biden’s candidacy does absolutely nothing to resolve that.

Daniel Schmidt is a 15-year-old political commentator and opinion writer. In his freshman year of high school, he founded The Young Pundit, with the goal of establishing a hard-hitting conservative commentary outlet featuring youthful, incisive, and unbought voices. To read more about Daniel, click here.